Thill-coupling



L. C. MILLS.- THILL COUPLING.

(No Model.)

' N9. 444,299. Patented M1196, 1891.

IIVVEIV TOR:

ATTORNEYS UNITED STATE PATENT" OFFICE.

LORENZO O. MILLS, OF STONY BROOK, NEW YORK.

' THlLL-COUPLING.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 444,299, dated January 6, 1891.

Application filed October 22, 1890. Serial No. 368,944. (No model.)

To all whom, it may concern.

Be it known that I, LORENZO C. MILLs, of

Stony Brook, in the county of Suffolk and- State of New York, have invented a new and useful Improvement in Thill-Oouplings, of which the following is a full, clear, and exact description.

Myinvention relates to an improvement in thill-couplings, and has for its object to provide a simple and durable attachment to the thills and the axle of a vehicle, whereby the former may be readily attached to and detached from the latter, as occasion may demand.

A further object of the invention is to so construct the attachment to the thills that the vehicle may be backed without danger of the thills becoming disconnected from the axle-bracket, and also to provide against the possibility of a rattling or jarring noise at the connection of the thills with the axle-bracket.

The invention consists in the novel construction and combination of the several parts, as will be hereinfter fully set forth, and pointed out in the claims.

Reference is to be had to the accompanying.

drawings, forming apart of this specification, in which similar figures and letters of reference indicate corresponding parts in all the views.

Figure 1 is a side elevation of the thill and a vertical section through the axle and the axle-bracket with which the thill is connected. Fig. 2 is a plan view of the thill and axlebracket, the two being illustrated as connected; and Fig. 3 is a detail perspective view of the axle-bracket.

' Theaxle-bracket A consists of a plate 10, which is made, preferably, somewhat triangular, and is provided with spaced apertures or openings 11 and at its forward or widest end with a head-block 12 at right angles to the plate 10, which head-block has produced therein at or near the center a recess 13, the front base-wall of which is curved or inclined upward, as illustrated at a in Fig. 1, and immediately above the recess the head-block is so formed as to produce a longitudinal pintle 14, circular in cross-section, the said pintle corresponding in length to the length of the recess, as is best shown in Fig. 3. The bracket A is secured to th e axle B, preferably by means of a clip 15, which is passed over the axle, and the ends of the clip are carried through the apertures 11 of the bracket and provided with nuts Or similar fastening devices, as is shown in Fig. 1.

The thill B is provided with a horizontal extension 10 at its extremity, in the under face of which extension a semicircular recess 17 is produced. One end of a spring-plate 18 is securely attached to the under face of the thill at its rear end, which plate 18 extends below the under face of the extension 16 and aportion of the recess 17, the said plate being curved upward and forward to form a semicircular socket. A second spring-plate 19 is securely fastened at its forward end to the under face of the thill somewhat forward of the plate 18, and this second spring-plate 19 is carried downward, following the contour of the thill and the extension, the rear end of the plate 19being downwardly curved and made to extend some little distance beyond the rear face of the thill-extension, as best shown in Fig. 1. The spring-plate 19 is so constructed as to form a cover-plate for the bottom of the recess 17.

In operation the downwardly-curved end of the outer spring-plate 19 is introduced into the recess 13 of the axle-bracket, and is slid upward and inward upon the inclined basewall of said recess, whereupon the rear end of the extension 16 of the thill, which is circular, engages with the outer side of the bracket-pintle 14, and the extension is so guided that as soon as the recess 17 is brought over the pintle 14 the rear end of the thill drops and the pintle finds a seat in the recess, having a bearing at its forward side against the inwardly and upwardly curved portion of the spring-plate 18, the space between the rear lower wall of the thill-recess and the rear lower point of the plate 18, when the latter is compressed, being just sufficient to accon1- modate the pintle. The frictional contact of the spring 18 and curved wall of the recess 17 effectually prevents the pintle from slipping from the thill-socket, and when the-ve-' hicle is backed the pintle finds a secure hearing against the curved face of the spring 18, contained in the recess.

To remove the thill it is simply necessary to press the inner end upward, whereby the extension is removed from the pintle, the spring 18 permitting it to drop out of the recess, and the thill being at this moment carried forward it is quickly, conveniently, and entirely released from the axle-bracket, as nnderthe continued pressure the spring 19 also yields. In order that the spring 18 may be forced backward a snfticient distance to permit the pintle to readily leave the thill socket, the forward wall of the thill-s0cket is made straight, and a cavity is produced in thelppper wall at its junction with the straight wa Having thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent- 1. In a thill-coupling, the combination of an axle-bracket provided with a head-block at right angles to the bracket and having a spring-plate attached to the bottom of the extension and extending partially beneath the recess therein, and provided with a semicircular upward extension located in the re cess, and a second spring-plate attached to the under surface of the thill at its forward end, the latter plate being carried downward and rearward in engagement with the thill and beneath the spring-plate of the extension and the rear portion of said extension, as and for the purpose specified.

In a device of the character described,

, the combination, with an axle-bracket having a head-block formed at one end containing a recess, and a pintle spanning the upper portion of the recess, of a thill having a horizontal extension at its inner end, provided with a recess in its under face, a spring attached at one end to the lower face-of the extension, the rear end of which spring is carried upward in semicircular form within the extension-recess, and a second spring-plate attached at its forward end to the under face of thethill and carried downward in engagement with the thill beneath the spring-plate of the extension, the lower face of the extension, and beyond the rear end of said extension, as and for the purpose specified.

LORENZO C. MILLS. Witnesses: N. B. SHERRY, E. Torrtno. 

